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(No Model.)

W. L. MILLER. ROLLER BEARING.

Patented Dec.14,1 897.

FIG.I..

FIELE.

UNITTD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HALF

TO CHARLES A. BAOKSTROM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ROLLER-BEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,328, dated December 14, 1897.

Application filed March 11, 1897- To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in Roller-Bearings, of which improvement the following is a specification.

The object of myinvention is to provide an improvement in roller-bearings; and to this end my invention consists in means for preventing objectionable movement of the rollers and diminishing friction, wear, and noise in roller-bearings.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an application of my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a roller provided with my improvement; Fig. 2, a central section through a bearing-box with a shaft passing therethrough and supported by a rollerbearing provided with my improvement; Fig. 3, an end view of the bearing shown in Fig. 2 with one of the end plates or bonnets removed. Fig. 4. is a sectional view of one of the rollers.

As shown in Fig. 2, the pillow-block, pedestal, or bracket 1 is provided with a cylindrical opening 2, in which is located a cage or frame comprising the longitudinal bars 3 and the annular end plates 4:, which may be formed integral with the bars 3. The ends of the bearing-box are closed by the plates 9, which are bolted in place. In the spaces between the bars 3 are placed cylindrical rollers 5, with which the shaft 6 engages and by which it is supported.

The rollers 5, as shown in the drawings, are hollow and are each formed of a coiled strip of metal with any desired number of helical turns 8 in order to secure elasticity and to permit the rollers to yield laterally in case of any slight dislocation from a allelism with the axis of the shaft 6. For this purpose the construction of the roller 5 is substantially that of a helical coiled spring with a comparatively narrow space 7 between the coils to permit the necessary movement of the parts of the roller relative to one another when subjected to lateral strains. A spring-roller so formed is not broadly new and is not herein broadly claimed as being of position of par- Serial No. 627,046. (N0 model.)

my invention. It is found in practice that the helical coils tend to give the roller an endlong movement as the roller is turned on its axis, and the ends of the rollers are thereby forced into contact with the annular plates 4 of the frame or with the ends of the bearingbox in which they are located, and the result is a grinding action of the ends of the rollers against the part on which they bear, which results in a great deal of noise, friction, and wear, both the ends of the rollers and the plate 4: or bearing-box being rapidly worn away.

The endlong movement of the roller is due to the helical form by which when rotated it operates as a screw which is turned in a fixed nut. The object of my invention is to prevent this endlong movement, and for this purpose I provide the roller with a shallow helical groove of substantially the same pitch as the helix formed by the strip of coiled metal, the direction of which is the reverse of that of the helix formed of metal-that is to say, if the strip of metal is so coiled as to operate in the manner of a righthanded screw thread the shallow groove, which is formed in the roller for the purpose of counteracting the effect of the coiled metal, will be so formed as to operate in the opposite direction and tend. to move the roller in a direction opposite to that in which it would be moved if the shallow groove were omitted.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the helical space between the coils of metal of which the roller is composed is indicated by the numeral 7 and the oppositely-curved shallow groove is indicated by the numeral 10.

I have found in practice that a helical springroller bearing provided with my improvement is relieved of all of the objectionable features due to the tendency of the roller to move endwise, and that the effect of the groove 10 is to keep the rollers in a central position and thereby to avoid wear of the ends of the rollers and the accompanying friction and also wear of the end plates or movement of the frame in the box.

VVhileit is preferred in ordinary horizontal bearings that the groove 10 should have the same pitch as the helix of which the roller is composed, it may be desirable under some by the coiled strip circumstances to provide a groove of some- What different pitch. For example, in case of a vertical bearing or a bearing which is sufficiently inclined to be effected by the action of gravity it may be desirable to give the groove such a pitch as to compensate for the action of gravity on the rollers. I therefore wish it to be understood that my improvement is not limited to a construction in which the pitch of the groove corresponds exactly with that of the helix formed by the coiled metal.

While my improvement is specially intended to be employed with a coiled rollerbearing and for the purpose of counteracting 1 the defects of such bearing, it may be employed with other forms of rollers or rollerbearings, and in some instances its employment may be found desirable in bearings provided with rollers formed of solid or tubular pieces in case a slight movement or tendency to move in an endlong direction may be found desirable.

My invention may be regarded as comprising any form of helix or helical groove or projection tending to give movement in one direction to a cylindrical roller forming part of a roller-bearing, whether this tendency is or is not opposed by some other means tending to give motion in the opposite direction.

It will be understood, of course, that the formation of a helical groove in the metal involves corresponding helical projections on each side of the groove, and any helical projection in the nature of a screw-thread similarly involves the formation of a helical groove or space between the projections or threads.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A roller adapted to form part of a rollerbearing, and provided with spaces and a helical groove adapted to automatically resist endwise movement and to retain the roller in position, substantially as set forth.

2. A roller having a helically-formed space on its outer surface, and an oppositely-formed groove, tending to resist endwise movement of the roller, substantially as set forth.

3. A roller formed of a helically-coiled strip of metal and having a groove oppositely formed to the winding of the strip, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a roller-bearing, of a series of cylindrical rollers each formed of a helically-coiled strip of metal, adapted to be engaged by, and to support a rotating shaft, and each having a helical groove formed therein, to resist the tendency of the roller to endwise movement, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM L. MILLER. Witnesses:

M. L. NEWELL, ETHEL GALLAGHER. 

